digiProjects: Market segments

Even though digiProjects was designed to manage and control the complexities of large engineering projects, it it is well suited to facilitate projects across a wide range of industries.

If you are managing “one-of-a-kind” projects in one of the following market segments, digiProjects is the tool that you need!

PROJECT ENGINEERING

● Petro-chemical plants, for example SASOL

● Power generation, for example ESKOM

● Mining, for example ore crushing, slurry, leaching, etc.

● Mineral processing, for example, platinum refineries

● Construction

HEAVY ENGINEERING

● Turbines and Boilers (high pressure steam)

● Ship building

● Wind power farms

● All manufacturing facilities that use the jobbing and batch manufacturing methodology

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND SOFTWARE

● Computer systems

● Software development and integration

● Legacy systems and interfaces

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

● Design and then create experimental models

● Pre-production models and prototypes

● e.g. new model development at a car manufacturer

PROJECT BASED CONSULTANCIES AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

● All professional consultancies, for example, engineers and designers/p>

● Real estate planning for re-zoning and development

● Project-based client and portfolio management

● Advertising and promotional campaigns

GOVERNMENT AND STATE ENTERPRISES

● All research and development enterprises

● Defence industry design, procurement and manufacturing

● Weapons systems, main battle tanks, etc.

Characteristics of complex engineering projects

What are the main characteristics of a complex engineering project? The following list attempts to answer this question:

● The business consists of discrete projects, such as build a chemical plant, or power station, or the manufacture of a high pressure boiler.

● The equipment lists are extensive, sophisticated, and managed from design through erection as discrete items (frequently referred to as a “tagged item”.)

● There are many engineering drawings and documents are created and progressed through a number of revisions. These drawings and documents are required to describe the project deliverables in infinite detail.

● The design effort to prepare these drawings is usually extensive, multi-disciplinary, and requires very careful management and control of the man-hours.

● Many of the engineering drawings have bills of material (both for standard and exotic materials), which have to be summarised and managed so that the material can be purchased in bulk, prior to fabrication or erection, and that shortages are identified early enough not to impact the erection schedule.

● The procurement process is driven by the engineering schedule, which in turn is driven by the erection schedule. QC and Expediting are generally essential requirements.

● Fabrication is generally per the engineering drawings developed specifically for the project. Fabrication is often contracted out but could also be done in-house.

● Erection is specific to the project.

● The terms “capital project”, “turn-key project”, or “green field project” are often used as generic terms for this type of project.

● The higher the degree of project complexity the better digiProjects will fit the requirement in comparison with traditional manufacturing systems.